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Small tents filled the Walnut St. Station parking lot of Montclair, New Jersey on Saturday morning. The crisp autumn air circled township residents as they huddled towards the entrance with reusable bags. The smell of spices, sweet treats and warm beverages kissed the noses of locals. The sound of children giggling, bodies bustling and vendors shouting, “Next!” filled the large lot.
Montclair residents scored some of their seasonal favorites this past weekend at the Montclair Farmers’ Market. The market not only had a large variety of seasonal produce for sale, but special food artisans also sold their items and dishes. Locals were able to grab special seasonal items such as apple cider beverages and donuts, pumpkin spice donuts and many different pies ranging from apple to strawberry rhubarb.
Along with a plentiful array of produce, many different kinds of vendors were also present for locals to explore and enjoy. The vendors offered a variety of seasonal options like different types of mushrooms, seasonal spices and even fall-inspired soups.
The market also had both vegan and vegetarian options for those with specific diets. Vendors like Angel Planet Foods offered customers vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Caitlin Lonergan, the sales and marketing associate of Angel Planet Foods, was eager to bring locals new seasonal options.
“We always like to have a fun twist on our curries,” Lonergan said. “Our most popular is our curry chickpea with sweet potatoes, so we most recently came out with an apple-cinnamon sweet potato curry with chickpeas for a fall twist.”
Lonergan also hopes to inspire more vendors at the market to use more environment-friendly practices.
“We are trying to make waves in the food industry by implementing more eco-friendly business practices and hopefully inspiring other businesses to do the same,” Lonergan said.
Along with giving vegans and vegetarians fall-inspired dishes, vendors were also donating a portion of their profits to charities and non-profit organizations.
Adventure Kitchen is owned by Lynely Jones, who began the business from her home. The business sells various seasonal spices and blends to customers at the market. They offer organic, original blends like pumpkin pie spice, hot Hungarian paprika and Mexican sweet blend.
Gabriella Bauer, a long-time customer and friend of Jones, explained that when customers purchase their spices, Jones tries to give back to local communities.
“10% [of purchases] goes to charity and all the products are sustainable and natural. You can smell the difference in the spices,” Bauer said.
Bauer helps Jones sell her spices at the market every Saturday.
Maryssa Geist, a resident from Montclair, has been shopping at the market for nearly three years. Geist’s favorite vendor is Everlasting Garden, which sells bouquets, individual flowers and succulent plants.
“The market is inviting and charming,” Geist said. “I tend to go to the same vendors when I stop by the flowers and jam tents.”
Residents can also speak with the market manager, who has a tent set up in the market. Locals can visit the tent with questions or inquire about the Good Food Bucks program. The program allows low-income families and seniors to double their produce purchases.
When residents bring their Families First cards to the market, they are given SNAP vouchers. When customers use their SNAP benefits at the market, they receive additional Good Food Bucks which they can use at the market as well.
Paul Pinto, the marketing manager of the Montclair Farmers’ Market, is hopeful that the program will bring more families to the lot.
“[Residents] can actually increase the value of what they’re getting from the government,” Pinto said. “It’s great.”
Montclair residents can visit the market every Saturday for fall favorites until the season is over in November. The market opens at 8 a.m. and remains open until 2 p.m. and residents who get to the market around the early afternoon can expect to enjoy food trucks and live music while they shop. The market is open rain or shine unless the marketing manager states otherwise.


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Gametech in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region has strong potential – home to a young population and, in parts of the region, a digitally savvy one.
The retail industry is worth over $3.5 trillion worldwide (pre-COVID-19 figures) and the video game market hopes to carve out a small slice, expected to be worth around $300 billion by 2025. Gaming has hit global headlines in particular with the recent news of Gamestop, with global restrictions due to the pandemic further boosting interest in Gametech. With regards to MEA, the region is one where it not only has a very young population but in parts of it, such as in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman) some of the highest mobile penetration in the world.
The various economic development policies and strategies in MEA heavily promote tech and wider digital transformation. With regards to Africa and parts of the Middle East, the large youth population and the potential for digital transformation across all spectrums presents strong opportunities – both to foster youth to be digitally savvy and provide solutions to do so. Therefore, with a growing industry such as Gametech coupled with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that is requiring the world to be as virtual as possible, an industry like Gametech has strong potential.
In 2016 it was estimated that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region spent $3.2 billion broadly on games. Specifically with mobile gaming, by 2022 it is predicted that this alone in MENA will stand at $2.3 billion. With regards to the Middle East, according to Statista, the shared revenue of the video gaming industry in the Middle East was evaluated to be at around $3 billion in 2017, with the biggest markets including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
ARPPU is the average revenue a paying user generates during a specified timeframe. It is actually Saudi Arabia that has the world’s highest ARPPU – $270 compared to China (which, as the world’s biggest gaming market, is at $32 according to the same source). Saudi Arabia’s large youth population, where 70 per cent is under 30 years old, combined with a large population of 35 million people showcases an opportunity for Gametech. In particular, prior to Saudi Vision 2030 and the opening of the Kingdom economically (the country’s national economic development and diversification strategy), there were little opportunities for leisure and entertainment. Therefore, an industry like Gametech makes sense in a market like Saudi Arabia – young, tech-savvy, ambitious and developed.
MEA also offers a strong opportunity for the gaming and Gametech industry because it is home to one of the most spoken languages in the world – Arabic. Across the Middle East, including Israel (which Hebrew and Arabic are the two official languages) and much of Africa (not counting the language’s importance for the world’s Muslim population), Arabic is the world’s fifth most spoken native language in the world (behind Hindi, English, Spanish and Mandarin). 70 per cent of the Arab world use Arabic as their default language on their smartphones.
In terms of Africa as a whole, the industry is still at its infancy but has recently seen an explosion of opportunity. There’s the launch Africa Game Developers Association, which is a community that boasts members from over 18 African countries. Commenting at an interview with The Fintech Times, Douglas Ogeto, Co-founder and CEO of Nairobi, Kenya-based Ludiqueworks says, “Leading to the growth of the industry is access to smartphones as well as fair pricing on data and access to infrastructure (servers) for the esports space. Several global publishers are investing their infrastructure on the continent giving fair play to local players who not only play competitively against fellow players in the region but the world over.”
Other challenges include the conversion of opportunity to commercialisation. The region possesses strong talent but the true exploitation of Gametech remains to be one that MEA as a whole can foster. With regards to Africa, another challenge is lacking a central storefront that prioritises and appreciates the perspective of both African creators and players. In addition, the volatility in local currency valuation can also make it difficult for players when trying to find value for money with regards to the global Gametech market. Nevertheless, the success of Africa’s early-stage Gametech ecosystem is noted, with growing local digital retail outlets such as Bonako Games Arena and Masseka Game Studio. Companies such as Ludiqueworks highlighted earlier are showing the aspirations of the African continent in this space.
In Israel, the Startup Nation, despite its success as a tech hub, is still catching up in the sector. However, in its short time in the sector from the early 2000s, according to a report from Deloitte, has seen global successes in the industry such as with Playtica and Plarium.
The growth of esports
The global growth of esports globally can also be seen in the MEA region. For example, with regards to prize money, twelve countries from MENA were in the top 100 earning countries. Jordan was the highest MENA country (ranked number 23 with total earnings of over $6 million). The others in the top 100 are Lebanon (27th), Saudi Arabia (46), the United Arab Emirates (66), Morocco (79), Iraq (82), Bahrain (83), Tunisia (84), Kuwait (85), Algeria (86), Egypt (87) and Palestine (98). The list overall had the United States, China and South Korea ranking as the top three.
Despite COVID-19, esports globally accelerated its importance, as many global sports events either were cancelled, postponed and/or modified to keep players safe and promote social distancing. For example, esports did carry on in the MEA region with Saudi Arabia setting up a new charity esports event to raise money to fight the coronavirus pandemic with a $10 million prize fund. Gamers during the seven-week long mega-series had a chance to compete for their chance to decide where the prize money goes in the tournament. The “Gamers Without Borders by Saudi” took place between April 24 and June 7.
It was also publicised this year that Saudi Arabia will launch a new business training programme to help further grow and boost the e-gaming sector. Called ‘The Game Changers initiative’ and led by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the programme will offer apprenticeship training to participants as well as aiding them in finding jobs in the sector and establishing startups.
Despite the overall infancy of Gametech in comparison to other more advanced Gametech economies of the USA and in parts of Asia, MEA presents an opportunity that can see a thriving ecosystem in Gametech. Fintech and Gametech will continue, particularly now in our digital world (both prior and further accelerated by COVID-19), to play an important role even in our leisure time.

domain: news


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Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has reached 500,000 sales in just three months! The epic AAA indie game from Ninja Theory beat all expectations and the studio can now celebrate its profit.
PC brought half of those sales for the title, no details on the console part. Originally, Ninja Theory had plans on selling 500,000 copies in six months, but the team managed to smash the initial target.
“Creatively we hit a home run, but our other major goal was to prove that there was a space between indie and triple-A games that could work commercial. And for that, sales do matter,” said one of the team members.
Hellblade sold 250,000 units across PS4 and PC in a week, becoming the top selling game on the European PlayStation Store in August. The Senua story is a project from a 20-man team which spent three years to develop the game.
“The escalating stakes in the AAA retail publishing model has killed off countless independent studios like us, many smaller publishers, and is now straining even the largest of publishers. This isn’t survival of the fittest but a routing of the creative base upon which this industry was built,” stated a developer from the studio.
“The future isn’t written and we don’t believe that the writing is on the wall. AAA will always exist but we need strong alternatives as well. Three years ago we announced our intention to find a way to do our best work outside of the AAA retail model and have openly documented the journey in our thirty development diaries.”


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Samsung will be officially launching their new Galaxy S5 today at the MWC show in Barcelona. Rumored features include a fingerprint scanner to compete against Apple’s iPhone 5s, a 5.2 inch screen and a 16mp camera. Just like the iPhone 6 rumors there is talk of two different versions. However, instead of two different sizes, we expect to see metal and plastic versions. The S5 will run Android 4.4 KitKat. Speed should not be an issue considering the rumored quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM.
Check out some “leaked” images from around the web:


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Tim Cook made a compelling case that he is acting in Apple shareholders’ interests by keeping billions of dollars in cash overseas, out of the hands of the U.S. tax collectors, industry insiders told CNBC on Monday.
“There’s this natural tension, whereas the CEO of a publicly traded company’s got a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that revenues and profits are recognized in the most tax-efficient way possible,” said Jon Brod, co-founder and president of the encrypted messaging platform Confide.
As of late September, Apple reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that $186.9 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was held by foreign subsidiaries.
Now imagine if there was no federal income tax, portfolio tax, personal income tax, payroll tax, capital gains tax, and the repatriation tax was gone? Wouldn’t you think Apple wouldn’t mind bringing that $186.9 billion back to the U.S to invest in the economy?
Asked by CBS “60 Minutes” interviewer Charlie Rose about regulators’ conclusion that “Apple is engaged in a sophisticated scheme to pay little or no corporate taxes” on billions in off-shore revenue, the Apple CEO responded bluntly.
Sometimes when you’re fed up with all the bull—, you have to be blunt.
“That is total political crap,” Cook said in the interview, which aired Sunday night. “There is no truth behind it. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe.”
Facing a 40 percent tax penalty and a lack of American workers with the necessary skills, Cook said bringing Apple’s resources back to the United States wouldn’t be reasonable.
I found this quiet disturbing, considering the fact of how much money parents pay to send their kids to college and you wonder what the heck are they learning in there if they don’t have the skills to help develop one of the most popular iconic technologies in the world? In America? What the heck are these kids going to? A damn social club?
“This is a tax code, Charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age,” Cook said in the interview, which aired Sunday night. “It’s backwards. It’s awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago — it’s past time to get it done.”
I absolutely agree with Tim here. I’m looking forward to presenting him with this legislation that Apple, as a whole, could be behind and support as well.
Since much of Apple’s revenue is made outside the U.S., there’s no reason to pay U.S. taxes on it, said Amit Daryanani, managing director and equity analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
“If these profits were generated in places where there were no or low taxes, then that’s Apple’s good luck or good marketing, and why should they have to pay taxes in the U.S.?” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
As one of the world’s most valuable companies, the marketing that came along with the “60 Minutes” interview was an important departure for Apple, said Andy Cunningham, former public relations representative to late-CEO Steve Jobs.
“There was a time back in the day when we wouldn’t have even taken the call from ’60 Minutes,'” Cunningham told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” on Monday. “But today … it’s really important that they extend a little bit of themselves out to the people, and I think this was a fabulous way of doing it.”
Cunningham said the timing of the interview played to Apple’s favor. It came as the stock suffered a sell-off last week, losing about $6 per share since last Monday after weak guidance from some suppliers. Share prices rose nearly 1 percent Monday.
“Anyone that can take a bigger view that’s longer than six months … you have to buy into the Apple story, you have to buy into the fact that this ecosystem is very powerful,” Daryanani said. “And Apple can monetize the ecosystem a lot more attractively than perhaps any other company right now can.”


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San Francisco startup Fauna Inc. has launched FaunaDB Serverless Cloud, described as the "first serverless database," supporting major public cloud platforms and hooking into function-as-a-service systems such as AWS Lambda.
Days after Google unveiled its pricing model for reserved compute capacity, Amazon Web Services answered with a new flexibility benefit in its Reserved Instances model.
Amazon is awarding $100 promotional credits to developers who publish Alexa skills, which provide natural language commands to voice-controlled home computing devices such as Echo.
Last week was busy in the AWS Marketplace, as new offerings were added for TeamViewer for AWS Workspaces, RiverMeadow Server Migration SaaS and Blockstack Core.
Teradata this week announced a secure managed cloud service for Big Data analytics that features the Amazon Web Services cloud as a deployment option.
Google's public cloud platform is giving Amazon Web Services a run for its money, at least in regard to the cost of using compute resources.
Amazon Web Services this week announced several improvements to its relational database product, Amazon Aurora.
BlueData Software Inc. tapped the Amazon Web Services cloud to add support for hybrid architectures to the latest release of its Big-Data-as-a-Service software.
Research firm Gartner is out with a new Magic Quadrant report for Data Management Solutions for Analytics, in which the Amazon Web Services cloud was named a "leader."
Amazon Web Services on Monday acquired Thinkbox Software, a Canadian firm that specializes in high-performance computing solutions for creative industries.
Amazon Web Services has added to its portfolio of Quick Starts, which provide reference deployment packages for popular solutions.
This week's hours-long Amazon Web Services outage was caused by an incorrectly typed command that forced inadvertent restarts of key Amazon S3 subsystems, the company said.
Genymobile is now providing a complete Android operating environment on the Amazon Web Services cloud with a new AWS Marketplace offering.
A wide swath of Amazon Web Services applications were down or impaired for several hours on Tuesday due to a glitch in the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).
AWS Organizations, which provide policy-based management for multiple accounts, is now generally available, Amazon Web Services announced yesterday.
Nimble Storage today introduced a beta offering that it claims provides the only enterprise-grade multicloud block storage service for the Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure public clouds.
Amazon Web Services on Thursday took the wraps off its latest instance family, the I3.
Amazon Chime, the newly launched unified communication service that runs on Amazon Web Services, is the subject of a trademark violation lawsuit filed this week by a New York-based collaboration software firm.
It updates conversion tool to ease the export of data stored in Teradata and Oracle data warehouses into its own offering, Amazon Redshift.
Just over a year after officially splitting from Symantec, backup and information management company Veritas is busy optimizing its solutions for the cloud.


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Jun. 23, 2020
Science may provide the answer to the consequences of global warming on olive trees to find cultivars with built-in tolerance to temperature extremes.
May. 21, 2020
Olive oil from the Jaén region has been approved by the European Commission for PGI status and added to the official register of 1,470 protected products.
Apr. 21, 2020
Along with achieving recognition for the olive tree, the IOC is also planning to invest in germplasm banks, ensuring healthy and authenticated samples are being entered and cared for.
Feb. 26, 2020
Research on the antibacterial activity of olive varieties grown in southern Italy shows promise for natural treatments against E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Jan. 15, 2020
From a distance, this olive grove on the outskirts of Córdoba looks just like any other field. But it is home for more than 1,000 olive cultivars from 29 countries, from Iran to the Americas, passing through all of the Mediterranean Basin.
Oct. 31, 2018
The Government of La Rioja is engaged in a multi-year effort that pursues the recuperation and preservation of indigenous olive varieties in an effort to develop unique olive oils.
Oct. 1, 2018
We asked researchers why the Leucocarpa olive variety is completely white throughout its development cycle.
Jun. 14, 2018
By 2021 Galicia expects to complete a four-year R&D project that seeks to establish solid foundations for a Galician olive oil industry based on indigenous olive varieties.
Apr. 5, 2018
Research has classified olive varieties from an emerging olive-producing region of Spain. A concurrent study has found the oil from these cultivars can be of value for preventing neurodegenerative diseases.
Oct. 24, 2014
When Joanna Pope first tasted Dehesa de la Sabina in New York, she knew she needed to introduce the Spanish Picual to her fellow Brits.
Aug. 11, 2014
Researchers are working to characterize local olive specimens and recover rare olive varieties in Galicia.
Jun. 9, 2014
A new study shows that soil quality may impact steryl glucoside levels in olive oils more than olive cultivar or farming methods.


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Despite ‘challenging’ year, Sanderson sets new sales record
by MBJ Staff
Published: December 18,2012
LAUREL — Sanderson Farms Inc. saw net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 of $648.4 million, compared with $559.8 million for the same period a year ago.
For the quarter, the poultry company reported net income of $9.3 million, or $0.41 per share, compared with a net loss of $21.6 million, or $0.97 per share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.
Net sales for fiscal 2012 were $2.386 billion, compared with $1.978 billion for fiscal 2011.
Net income for the year totaled $53.9 million, or $2.35 per share, compared with a net loss of $127.1 million, or $5.74 per share, for last year.
“The fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 marked the end of another challenging year for Sanderson Farms and the poultry industry,” said Joe F. Sanderson Jr., chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms. “We reported record annual sales of $2.386 billion, a 20.6 percent increase over fiscal 2011. However, while poultry markets improved compared to fiscal 2011, grain prices surged to record levels during August as a result of drought conditions across much of the Corn Belt. As a result, the improvement in poultry market prices was offset in part by higher feed costs. Our increased sales and return to profitability during the year reflect higher production as we completed the ramp up to near full production at our Kinston, N.C., facility. For the year, we sold 2.952 billion pounds of dressed poultry, another record, compared with 2.794 billion pounds in fiscal 2011.”
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January is a popular time to jet off for a dose of winter sun or to book that highly-anticipated summer holiday.
However, Barclays is warning travellers about the risk of holiday villa scams, which could lose holidaymakers hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.
The i newsletter latest news and analysis
Holidaymakers losing up to £5,000 because of scams
Barclays’ figures come from customers who have reported holiday villa scams directly to the bank. Over a third (37 per cent) of these reported scams result in losses of between £1,000 and £5,000.
Research found that more than a third (36 per cent) of victims were aged 30 to 44 years old and, in 59 per cent of reported cases, the victims were women.
Alongside looking at its own data on villa scams between the months of April and October 2017, Barclays also surveyed over 2,000 consumers.
This survey found that more than half (55 per cent) of people said they would not be put off booking a holiday even if it seemed “too good to be true” and 14 per cent of people said they would still book holiday accommodation despite knowing there was a risk of being scammed.
How do these scams happen?
Holiday villa scams can occur when details of overseas villas are hijacked or the scammer uses fake details to trick holidaymakers into transferring money to them.
“Trying to escape those January blues may seem like an appealing prospect, but fraudsters are preparing to take advantage of sun seekers at this time of year,” said Ross Martin, Barclays’ head of digital safety.
“We must all be aware of the risks and make sure we are carrying out proper safety checks to ensure our online security and enjoy a scam-free holiday.”
How can I avoid being scammed?
According to the stufy, half (45 per cent) of people would check their booking with a consumer protection scheme trade body member like Abta, who offer advice and tips which can help to prevent a scam from taking place.
Mark Tanzer, Abta chief executive said, “Abta sees at first-hand the damage caused by travel fraudsters with the many devastated customers who contact us for advice after they find out their much-anticipated holiday or trip to visit loved ones may not actually exist.
“The cost to them is not just financial – this crime causes very real disappointment and emotional distress.
“However this does not need to happen. Check and follow the tips and advice on abta.com and you will not fall victim to these unscrupulous individuals.
Mr Tanza also explained that anyone who has fallen victim to a holiday scam should always report it to Action Fraud.


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Hoping Medium Staff sees this. The Expander. I want an option for that. I’ve been using comments as footnotes, and now plan on using an ellipsis as the comment hyperlink, but it will still click people to an entirely new window. If there could be a box so readers stay on the same page, that’d be great.
The Expander — This superhero-sounding item is already in use at other outlets, like The Guardian, and Ferne said it’s going to be tested on the BBC’s site starting next month. When readers see a yellow ellipsis after a key term/event/name/etc., they can click on it to pop out some more information. (Two examples in a piece about Catalonia independence: The definition of sedition, and an explainer on the Catalonia region.) The Expander and the next prototype are the only two that can reuse news items, assuming the information is still accurate and relevant.


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Worldwide Orphan Drug Market to Grow to $127 Billion by 2018
April 23, 2013, 9:00 a.m. ET.Worldwide Orphan Drug Market to Grow to $127 Billion by 2018
.The Wall Street Journal
LONDON & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2013-- The worldwide orphan drug market is set to reach $127 billion by 2018, accounting for nearly 16 percent of total prescription drug sales, according to the new 2013 Orphan Drug Report from Evaluate. The first-edition report sheds light on the market dynamics of orphan drugs -- pharmaceutical products aimed at rare diseases or disorders -- projecting that sales will experience a compound annual growth rate of 7.4 percent between 2012 and 2018, nearly double that of the prescription drug market, excluding generics.
For pharmaceutical companies, the findings confirm hypotheses that orphan drugs offer a greater return on investment than non-orphan drugs. Orphan drugs that have been filed for regulatory review or are in phase III trials provide a 1.7 times greater return on investment than non-orphan drugs. Moreover, EvaluatePharma's analysis shows that phase III development costs for orphan drugs are half of those of non-orphan drugs.
"Pharma has traditionally been focused on developing drugs for large disease populations," said Anthony Raeside, Evaluate's Head of Research. "However, with R&D costs rising into the billions, pharma has shifted efforts to more niche indications which, as our analysis demonstrates, offer a greater return on investment."
Here's a look at some of the report's key findings:
-- In 2012, orphan drug sales increased 7.1 percent to $83 billion from the
previous year. That compares with a 2.1 percent decline in overall
prescription drug sales (excluding generics), which fell to $645 billion.


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It’s been a busy old year for Pinterest. They’ve celebrated hitting 250m users a month, as well as over 175bn Pins. But what has the platform been up to?
While it used to be known as the platform for food, fashion and wedding planning, Pinterest has grown – but still retains the original idea of planning ahead. Research found that 93% of Pinners use the platform to plan a purchase, while 67% have discovered a new brand of product from business content on Pinterest.
Here are some of the biggest changes on Pinterest in 2018:
This year saw some big updates to Pinterest’s ad platform, as they took a step further into the world of business.
The biggest of these changes was in October, when the platform rolled out a host of updates to its self-service ads manager tool, including the ability to create new Pins through the ads manager, as well as being able to select multiple Pins at the same time.
Further advertising updates this year saw the introduction of promoted carousel ads, shoppable pins and larger width video ads that take up two thirds of a mobile screen (tying into the increase of vertical video format).
Improved mobile experience
It’s no surprise that a lot of Pinterest users like to use the channel on the go, but until this year the app was renowned for its bad UX. A new app design, faster load times and a darker ‘night mode’ were among the changes which were unveiled this year.
In the six months since the new changes were rolled out, Pinterest noted 800,000 weekly users using the progressive web app like a native app.
While you could always add new collaborators to your Pinterest boards, 2018 was the year the platform became a lot more ‘social’ with these.
Now you can get notified when new members join the board – as well as actually being able to @mention people in the comments and like comments from other people. It seems a little bit strange that this functionality wasn’t introduced until this year!
Pinterest is all about recommendations and seeing suggestions based on what you’ve previously searched. But for those who only wanted to see Pins by certain brands or businesses, there is now an option for that.
March 2018 saw Pinterest launch a Following tab – where users can see the Pins from everyone they follow, in order of upload.
On mobile, users can easily toggle between the suggestions on the home page or the posts only from people they have followed.
Business page redesign
April 2018 saw Pinterest reveal a new layout for business pages.
The update included the introduction of a dynamic cover image, which allowed businesses to highlight the content which they want customers to see first. This could be a specific board, most recent activity, or a certain set of Pins.
A useful stat added in the update was monthly users, allowing businesses to see how many people viewed their Pins over the past 30 days.


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Pokémon GO Fest 2021 is going virtual this year and the two-day event that promises plenty of rewards for players. On July 17th, all Trainers have access to the festival and they will get to explore themed habitats that rotate throughout the event. During each dedicated habitat hour, select Pokémon will appear more frequently.
On July 18th, paid ticketholders will get to partake in the Pokémon GO Fest 2021 music festival and get special rewards by working with Professor Willow. In celebration of its five-year anniversary, the interactive music festival features content from the franchise’s signature music producer, Junichi Masuda. There are even brand-new tracks that were created just for the event, Pikachu Rock Star and Pikachu Pop Star.
Pokémon GO Fest 2021 Has a Music Festival and Special Rewards
1. Virtual Festivals - There is a growing trend of virtual festivals in the wake of the pandemic, creating opportunities for the entertainment industry to innovate with engaging digital experiences.
2. Themed Habitats - Themed habitats that rotate throughout an event offer an opportunity for brands to create engaging marketing experiences for consumers.
3. Augmented Reality Gaming - The success of games like Pokémon GO and the increasing availability of AR technologies present unique opportunities for the gaming industry to explore innovative and engaging gaming experiences.
1. Entertainment - The entertainment industry has an opportunity to innovate with virtual festivals that incorporate music and gaming to create engaging digital experiences for consumers.
2. Marketing - Brands can leverage themed habitats and other aspects of virtual festivals to create unique and interactive marketing experiences for consumers.
3. Gaming - The success of augmented reality gaming and events like Pokémon GO Fest present opportunities for the gaming industry to explore new and innovative gaming experiences that incorporate real-world elements.


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While UBS research suggests only 17% of travellers would be willing to fly without a pilot, CEO of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, has predicted that we'll be seeing autonomous aircraft in the next 40 to 50 years — the CEO said ticket prices will probably help dispel any fears travellers may have.
One of Apple’s secretive self-driving cars got in a crash for the first time — but it doesn't seem to be Apple's fault
One of Apple's mysterious self-driving cars got into a crash in August — but it was rear-ended from behind, and nobody was hurt. It's the first time one of Apple's cars has had this kind of crash.
Tesla is rolling out new Autopilot features over the weekend — paving the path for its fully self-driving system slated to arrive at the end of 2017.
Farmers Insurance is working with Tesloop, a Tesla ride-sharing service, to explore how policies will change with advents in self-driving technology.
Ford claims its new CEO has deep ties to Silicon Valley — but the company still has a big self-driving-car problem
Ford has named Jim Hackett as its new CEO. He replaced Mark Fields to help Ford compete when it comes to smart mobility, electric cars, and self-driving tech.
This self-driving shuttle pod will be tested in London for a possible new form of transportation.
Tesla is continuing to improve Autopilot as it works to prepare its cars for fully autonomous driving.
Brad Stone, journalist and best-selling author, told Business Insider: "Self-driving cars for Uber is existential. The future of the business depends on it."
Tesla began rolling out new Autopilot features over the weekend — paving the path for its fully self-driving system slated to arrive at the end of 2017.
A few lucky Tesla owners will get to experience some new Autopilot features by the end of this week — here's what you need to know.
Futurist Thomas Frey has spent a lot of time thinking about how driverless cars could affect job prospects in surrounding industries.
These cars are a technological powerhouse.
While companies all have their own reasons for investing in driverless cars, they all agree that one of the biggest benefits will be improved safety.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday that new cars will come with hardware that enables them to be fully autonomous. Here's how it works.
A driver was on board in case of emergency.
These cars are technological powerhouses.
It could house some 35,000 residents.
The tech veterans envision the interstate transformation happening in phases and say that it would take about ten years to completely move to driverless cars.
These cars are technological powerhouse.
Would you buy a car if you knew it was programmed to swerve into a tree to protect someone who crossed the road without looking?


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They are making a lot of talk about the photographs taken in Tijuana, Mexico, of a new maxi Amazon plant of 21 million Dollars. The reasons are to be found in the fact that the warehouse borders with a shantytown.
As can be seen from the image at the opening and present at the bottom, published by Vice, the plant shows the sharp contrast with the homes of the dilapidated and the absolute poverty with which the inhabitants of the settlement have to deal.
The sparkling complex with the logo of the Seattle giant is in conflict with the impoverished surroundings, and the difference is even more evident in a photograph taken from above and published on Twitter, which also quickly became viral on social media.
Tijuana will be Amazon’s sixth warehouse in Mexico, and in this regard an e-commerce spokesman said that “since our arrival in Mexico, Amazon has created more than 15,000 jobs across the country, creating job opportunities with wages and benefits Our wages and benefits strengthen local communities and these investments help these areas to grow and build a better future.
This will be Amazon’s first warehouse built on the US border, as San Diego is a few kilometres away. Amazon’s spokesman said that it will give 250 people a job: “Tijuana is one of the most important cities in northern Mexico and our presence will allow us to generate hundreds of jobs, for the benefit of both the local community and our customers in the region,” says the


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>>Experts are certain that suppl...
We may need many months or even years to deal with the chaos in the supply chain segment.
Havoc at ports is showing no signs of slowing, and a vast array of products is still dealing with a heavy rise in prices. Time alone is not expected to solve the great supply chain disruption that has hit the retail segment hard. We have to channel the required amount of investment, refashion the incentives, and revise technology across all businesses. To deal with the ongoing issue, we will need additional warehouses, more ships, and many truck drivers, which is very difficult to procure in a short time for cheap. We may need many months or even years to deal with the chaos in the supply chain segment.
Flexport’s chief economist Phil Levy has stated that the supply chain chaos won’t subsidize in 2022, and it is difficult to predict when things will go back to normal. For people who are keenly following the global supply chain, the very idea of going back to normal will seem impossible because we might just have to learn to live with the new normal. Reliable and cheap shipping is no longer an option for manufacturers; hence, they might have to set up a new production facility closer to the consumers. Manufacturers now have to go back to a more primitive approach to deal with the ongoing chaos.


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Yesterday, the release of key economic indicators in China produced headlines like this: China Targets Inflation as Economy Runs Hot. The table below lists the full release, including the consensus expectations (Bloomberg’s survey) for each statistic. (Here is the link for the actual data release.)
As you can see, the survey undershot the actual results across many of the releases, including that for GDP and inflation (CPI). The surge in the CPI, 1.9% y/y in December versus 1.4% y/y expected, attracted a lot of attention. According to the Economist, Helen Qiao and Yu Song at Goldman Sachs points out that prices may be on an (increasingly) upward trajectory:
The recent rise in inflation was caused mainly by higher food prices as a result of severe winter weather in northern China. In many cities, fresh-vegetable prices have more than doubled in the past two months. But Helen Qiao and Yu Song at Goldman Sachs argue that it is not just food prices that risk pushing up inflation: the economy is starting to exceed its speed limit. If, as China bears contend, the economy had massive overcapacity, there would be little to worry about: excess supply would hold down prices. But bottlenecks are already appearing. Some provinces report electricity shortages, and stocks of coal are low. The labour market is also tightening, forcing firms to pay higher wages.
The final sentence is very important – a tight labor market will lead to higher wages (the data on wages is 4 months old, so I will not plot it out). This suggests, completely by inference on my part, that prices pressures will be the wage-price spiral type – this can quickly get out of hand.
To be sure, the inflation surge was driven primarily by food prices, up 5.3% over the year; but with retail sales growing at a rate of 17.5% over the year and broad money growing at a 27.7% pace in 2009, prices hikes are bound to spread. We already saw inflation pressures building in the trade balance. Now I get to my chosen post-point: why is inflation in China necessarily a bad thing?
The inflation pop sparked a lot of market angst yesterday. Of course, this is just a single data point; but if inflation does build, and the government insists on maintaining its tight peg against the $US, then inflation will do what US consumers and Asian savers have not: reverse trade flows.
Specifically, and holding all else equal, sizable inflation in China would drive up the value of its real-exchange rate (REER), where the REER is the nominal exchange rate adjusted for relative prices in China versus its trading partners – faced by the Chinese.
As illustrated in the chart above, the REER has been on a downward trajectory throughout 2008, but remains elevated compared to its 2006 levels. The real exchange rate is the single-most important factor in determining trade flows. An inflation-driven growth in the real value of the Chinese yuan (REER) would effectively, and eventually, drop China’s export share with key trading partners.


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Dollars follow eyeballs. This bedrock principle of media advertising is working against the television industry today, as new viewing patterns challenge old ways of doing business.
The most recent evidence surfaced in August, when one major media company after another reported weaker television advertising revenue. The shares of the companies, including Disney, 21st Century Fox, Viacom and CBS, suffered as Wall Street saw a warning sign that Madison Avenue has recognized for some time.
“The traditional TV model is breaking apart,” said Laura Desmond, chief executive of Starcom MediaVest, one of the world’s largest ad-buying companies. “It’s both a crisis and a huge opportunity.”
The peril and promise are byproducts of television’s truly becoming a digital medium. Internet services like Netflix and YouTube deliver video programming to screens large and small, in living rooms and on smartphones — and it is sent “over the top,” in industry jargon, via the Internet, sidestepping the TV industry’s accustomed control point, the set-top box. In addition, digital recording services, now offered by cable and satellite TV operators, allow programs to be recorded for later viewing.
The TV market is fracturing and becoming less predictable, undermining the main appeal of traditional TV to advertisers: its ability to deliver mass-market audiences.
Yet as TV embraces digital technology, it opens the door to targeting television ads as never before, much as is done with advertising on the web today.
That helps explain the surge in digital video advertising on Google’s YouTube, Facebook and streaming services like Hulu, where the rules of Internet targeting apply. Those online video ads are only a tenth of the television ad market of $70 billion a year, but they are projected to grow 21 percent a year, according to Forrester Research. By contrast, advertising on cable and broadcast television is expected to inch ahead at 1 percent annually.
Until recently, TV audience information used by advertisers has come mainly from samples of viewers and surveys, conducted by Nielsen and other market research companies. The monitoring made possible by digital technology can be far more detailed — down to the household level — not only covering what is being watched but, when combined with other data sources, also predicting behavior and buying habits.
“The Internet was an example of what can be done, but now it is going to TV as well,” said Shereta Williams, president of Videa, an advertising technology start-up owned by the Cox Media Group.
The technology for digital TV is still in its early stages. The TV industry wants to be able to target ads to households and individuals, as on the web, but without losing control of its distribution network and business.
The set-top box has long been TV’s technical gateway, and that technology is receiving a digital upgrade to give set-top boxes Internet-style targeting capabilities. Today, including satellite TV and cable providers, nearly 40 million set-top boxes are “household addressable,” representing about a third of American households.
For advertisers, this should mean more productive ads and the ability to scientifically test their effectiveness. Last year, Starcom MediaVest did an addressable TV ad campaign for Honda’s Acura TLX luxury sedan. The firm combined anonymized sales data and other data to choose 1.7 million households to show Acura ads. Those households’ rate of buying the cars was more than 60 percent higher than that of a demographically similar control group who were not shown the ads.
With advanced software and data-mining technology, the potential for tailoring ads can be quite refined. So, for example, two households in New York, living in next-door apartments, could watch, say, “The Good Wife,” and see different ads. In one apartment, a couple who contribute to environmental causes and have no children could be shown an ad for a compact car. In the other apartment, a couple with two children and a weekend home might be shown an ad for a sport utility vehicle.
The future of TV advertising may be more like web advertising, but it will not be a rerun, analysts and industry executives insist. On the web, some newspaper and magazine publishers have built sizable digital ad businesses. But it has proved to be a winner-take-most marketplace, with the biggest winners being the Internet ad giants Google and Facebook.
“TV will take on some of the characteristics of Internet advertising in terms of targeting and relying on data to predict who is behind the screen,” said James Nail, an analyst at Forrester Research. “But video sellers have greater power to dictate how the new technology rolls out.”
On traditional television, major consumer product and brand advertisers want their ads to be shown alongside high-quality video programming, mainly the sitcoms and dramas the medium is known for, say the analysts and executives. It is the kind of video environment, they say, that delivers the sight, sound and emotion that drive decision-making.
“Premium content is scarce, and scarcity creates a huge difference between TV and the Internet,” said Scott Ferber, chief executive of Videology, an ad tech start-up.
The big media companies have used that scarcity to deflect competition in the past. In 2012, Google shut down its Google TV Ads unit after it made little headway in trying to adapt its Internet marketplace model to selling television ads. The TV networks and local stations, analysts say, refused to put the ad inventory they hold for marketers on the Google marketplace.
Today, Google is pursuing a vision of Internet-style ad delivery — called programmatic TV — but with a modified approach, portraying itself as a tools maker to assist content providers and marketers.
Google’s role, said Rany Ng, director of product management for video ads, is to “bring data-driven buying and automation to how television and video advertising is bought.”
In recent years, video ad tech start-ups have proliferated, typically specializing in working with the big media companies or ad buyers. They provide software expertise and consulting services and often match buyers and sellers.
“This is so central to the creators’ and marketers’ strategy. They are going to want to be in greater control over time,” said Bill Day, chief executive of Tremor Video, an ad technology start-up.
For finely tailored ads, data is crucial. So data brokers and data-analysis companies, including Acxiom, Experian and Dunnhumby, are also suppliers to the emerging industry of digital TV.
Acxiom, for example, has demographic, shopping and lifestyle information on every American household. Rick Erwin, its general manager of audience solutions, views digital TV as another market for its targeting services, which are used in direct mail, telemarketing, email and online ads.
“Whenever a medium becomes addressable at the household level, we’re the data fuel,” he said.
For advertisers, the long-term goal is to be able to reach ideal customers for their products, on any screen. The potential, said Mr. Nail of Forrester, is for a TV viewing experience less cluttered with irrelevant ads and “dramatically improved results for TV advertisers.”
But predicting the winners in the high-stakes, high-tech migration to digital TV, analysts and executives agree, is uncertain. Ms. Desmond of Starcom MediaVest, for example, expects a wrenching consolidation in the media business over the next three years or so. The only three sure survivors, she said, are Disney, 21st Century Fox and Comcast NBCUniversal. Smaller players will most likely be bought up.The acquirers, Ms. Desmond said, may well include the Internet powerhouses, like Google and Facebook.
Even those who insist the TV market is unique have their qualms. “It should be different,” Mr. Ferber of Videology said, “but these digital companies are so huge and so powerful, they are going to be hard to resist.”


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But he has nothing to say about the revival of Scalebound.
Back in 2019, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, said that the company was working to ensure that Final Fantasy 14 was released on its consoles. Three years later, however, an Xbox port of the MMO has yet to even be announced.
Speaking to GAME Watch at the Tokyo Game Show, Spencer commented on the announcement and confirmed that he still hopes Final Fantasy 14 will be released on Xbox, although he can’t give an exact timeline yet.
Yes, we definitely talked about it [laughs]. Of course, we haven’t given up yet. Both we and Square Enix want Final Fantasy 14 to come to Xbox, and we continue to work together to make it happen.Phil Spencer , Head of Xbox
Previously, the developers of Final Fantasy 14 said that one of the main problems due to which the game is not on the Xbox is the social features of the platform, which hamper the player’s experience.
In the same interview, Spencer stated that he had nothing to say about a possible revival of Scalebound by PlatinumGames. Previously, game designer Hideki Kamiya suggested that the head of Xbox return to the canceled project, but it seems that so far they have not agreed on anything.


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Time to grab a bargain motor? Second-hand car prices fall to lowest in almost a year
The average price of used cars has fallen to £8,695, its lowest level since July last year, research has showed.
Advice website UsedCarExpert.co.uk said the price for second-hand cars has dipped about £1,000 since December 2011, with the South West being the region with the lowest average price at £7,316. West Midlands follows, averaging £7,690.
In contrast, the most expensive used cars are in north west England where the average is £10,186.
The South West has the lowest average price for used cars at £7,316
Greater London (averaging £9,376) and Scotland (£9,148) were among the regions with higher-than-average used car prices.
UsedCarExpert.co.UK's editor Matthew Tumbridge said used car prices had hit rock bottom in some regions, so it was a great time to grab a bargain while prices were so low.
‘It certainly pays motorists to shop around to get the best used car deal, as they can save up to £3,000 if they are prepared to travel. For example, a Fiat 500 in north-east England costing £9,990 is only £6,995 in the South West.’
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With consumers increasingly conscious about their health, as well as looking to save money where possible, the dairy product sector is well positioned to capitalise, new information from GlobalData has found.
As 2024 progresses, several trends are poised to shape the dairy landscape, reflecting evolving consumer preferences and economic conditions, from targeted health to functional benefits, to the rise of dairy alternatives.
“Consumers are responding to increasing dairy product prices in different ways,” says Ana Purcaroiu, senior consultant and food analyst at GlobalData. “Some opt to continue buying dairy products, but are reducing their spending in other grocery categories to offset higher prices or switching to cheaper store brand or private-label products.
“We are also witnessing a rising interest in plant-based dairy alternatives [compared] to traditional dairy products, primarily in Western countries.”
Elsewhere, demand for dairy products is expected to accelerate over the next decade, due to increasing per-capita incomes, particularly in emerging markets, such as India, Pakistan and Africa.
Read More: Top 20 Dairy Companies In The World
GlobalData has outlined three trends in the dairy and dairy alternative market to watch out for in 2024, as follows.
1. Affordability And Value Scepticism
As economic uncertainties persist, consumers are increasingly prioritising affordability without compromising on quality. With high inflation and rising food prices, cash-strapped consumers are seeking value in their dairy purchases.
While quality remains paramount, consumers are exploring cost-saving measures, such as opting for store brand or private-label products. This shift towards affordability has intensified competition, challenging established brands to deliver superior functional benefits and quality at the best value.
According to a consumer survey carried out by GlobalData in Q4 2023, almost two thirds of consumers are switching to ‘own-brand products’ or ‘other cheaper brands’.
‘Consumers unaware of pricing structures in the dairy industry may also see private labels as better value and may assume that brands are using macroeconomic issues as an excuse to raise prices further simply for profit – sometimes referred to as “greedflation”,’ GlobalData noted. ‘For some consumers who question a brand’s justification for higher prices, a switch to own-label alternatives or cheaper brands is a likely outcome.’
2. Targeted Health Solutions
Growing concerns over lifestyle-related health issues are driving consumers towards healthier dairy options. From low-fat to low-sugar products, there is a rising demand for dairy items that offer superior nutritional value.
Brands are responding by innovating with specialised health solutions, leveraging scientific research to highlight specific health benefits. Probiotics, for instance, have gained popularity for their gut health benefits.
Consumers, particularly millennials, are increasingly prioritising multifunctional dairy products that offer both nutritional value and convenience. As a GlobalData consumer survey in Q3 2023 found, a quarter (24%) of millennials view ‘multi-benefit/multi-functional’ as the third-most popular definition of ‘good value for money’ when purchasing dairy products.
3. The Rise Of Healthy Snacking
In an era marked by busy lifestyles and on-the-go consumption, the demand for healthy snack-sized dairy products is on the rise. Yoghurts, cheese snacks, and milkshakes are becoming go-to options for consumers looking for convenient and nutritious snacks.
Younger demographics, notably Gen Z, are driving this trend, preferring smaller portion sizes and healthier alternatives.
‘In addition, “snackification” has impacted the dairy industry and has gained popularity as people seek convenient and portable options to satiate their appetites,’ noted GlobalData. ‘Consequently, companies have diversified from conventional snacks and offered healthier alternatives like yogurt cups, cheese snacks, nutritious milkshakes, and protein-rich snacks to meet increasing demand.’
According to GlobalData’s Purcaroiu, “[The dairy sector will] not only be shaped by trends such as targeted health, healthy snacking, and value scepticism in 2024, but also by the adoption of innovation and formulation development supported by AI’s analytical and search capabilities.
“With Gen Z contributing 27% of the global workforce by 2025 [according to data from the World Economic Forum], their spending power will become increasingly important for dairy brands, as will the need for companies to increase their supply chain transparency, as regulatory probes into pricing and upcoming laws on mandatory sustainability reporting come into effect.”
Read More: Top 20 Most Popular Dairy Brands In Europe


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Mothers across the country have agreed that cards and flowers once a year do not properly recompense them for the trauma of giving birth to a human.
With mums being showered with petrol station flowers, overpriced chocolate selection boxes and novelty Moonpig cards, this year they are all in agreement that it simply wasn’t worth the hassle.
Janet Price, a 42-year-old mum-of-three from Basildon, said: “I was in labour for 53 hours combined and at least 30 complete strangers saw my fanny.
“Somehow my kids and husband think a couple of homemade cards and some Lush bath bombs make up for that. It doesn’t and they should just bugger off.”
Samantha Curtis, a mother from Norwich, added: “I would genuinely rather not get anything at all than a hastily bought box of Ferrero Rocher which acts purely as a reminder of the hellish time I spent on the maternity ward trying to squeeze out my awful kids.
“I’m allergic to hazelnuts and all, so my two sons will have to eat them anyway.”


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Nintendo has given an update on its museum project.
Previously called the Nintendo Gallery, the building will now officially be known as the Nintendo Museum.
Nintendo hopes construction on the Nintendo Museum will be completed in March 2024, with an opening date to be confirmed at a later time.
The Nintendo Museum will be located at the site of the Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant in Kyoto’s Uji city, which was built in 1969 to help with the manufacture of playing and Hanafuda cards, and to servce as a customer service centre where product repairs took place.
These functions were transferred to Nintendo’s other plant in Uji city, however, meaning for a while the building was sitting unused.
In 2021 Nintendo revealed that it was going to transform the plant into a museum, following discussions with the city Uji. The city was in the process of redeveloping the nearby Ogura Station area, so Nintendo decided to build the Nintendo Museum as part of this redevelopment plan.
This won’t be the first time Nintendo has exhibited some of its products. The Nintendo World store in New York used to have a museum area where it would show off rare systems.
It will, however, be the first building designed to permanently exhibit key items from Nintendo’s past.


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- February 6, 2020 4:24 AM
- November 27, 2022 2:42 PM
- August 30, 2020 2:28 AM
The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on preventive healthcare, repositioning health services within the priorities of government, private institutions, communities and consumers.
This growth in interest in healthcare presents opportunities for further developments in the category, especially for innovation providers to address the needs of a digital-reliant generation and the digital economy.
In Cambodia, access to quality healthcare is a key priority outlined under the government’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) initiative, which guides the development of medical facilities, healthcare workers’ licensing, and healthcare systems.
Today, Cambodia’s homegrown mobile network operator, Cellcard, demonstrates how it shares the vision for health access equality with the launch of Cellcard’s E-Health Service – a first-to-market initiative.
In partnership with Cambodia-Singapore HealthTech venture, MyCLNQ, and the world’s leader in digital payments, Visa, the Cellcard E-Health Service aims to close the access gap to quality health care with a comprehensive telehealth platform that everyone can access through their mobile phone.
“We pride ourselves on being an enabler for our customers’ digital lifestyles. The addition of an E-Health Service to our roster of Value-Added Services allows us to provide for more holistic lifestyle needs. Launching Cambodia’s first mobile-based E-Health Service opens a whole new world of opportunities and conveniences. We’ve partnered with the best to deliver a unique digital healthcare ecosystem, allowing our customers priority access to healthcare facilities, virtual consultations with healthcare experts, telemedicine and mobile inpatient care, among other things. It’s an insightful application of technology, and we’re excited to make this service available to everyone.” - Cellcard CEO, Simon Perkins.
Cellcard’s E-Health Services will have a phased roll-out which starts with its E-Health Services being bundled with Cellcard’s Tourist SIM. The bundle is developed in preparation for the tourist influx for the 32nd SEA Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games in May and June.
Cellcard’s Tourist+ package will be available in two variants: Standard and Pro. The bundles will be offered with an introductory subscription promotion from April 28 to May 31, providing FREE SIM/Regular SIM with $5 Top-Up at $12 [UP: $15] for Standard, and at $17 [UP: $20] for Pro, as well as a 10% discount on all subscription bundle for payment via Visa.
“We are very excited to partner with Cellcard to launch Cambodia’s first digital e-health ecosystem. Working together with Cellcard and Visa, there are several initiatives in development to service various consumer segments. E-Health MyCLNQ aims to solve healthcare pain points across Asian markets, starting from Cambodia and the Mekong region.” – e-Health MyCLNQ CEO Socheat Bin.
“We are thrilled to see the tourism sector gearing up after the pandemic. However, health is still a top priority for individuals and families, and it becomes more important when you travel overseas together with loved ones. Our partnership with Cellcard and Visa enables hassle-free tourist care along with a data package which enables basic healthcare at your fingertips and medicine deliveries at your doorstep.” – e-Health MyCLNQ Chief Business Officer Anwar Rafique.
The partnership with Visa provides additional benefits to subscribers of Tourist+. Payment of subscriptions through Visa offers an extra 10% off the subscription, as well as a 10% discount on medical bills.
“Our partnership with Cellcard and e-Health MyCLNQ to launch Cambodia’s first Tourist+ supports the rebound of Cambodia’s tourism sector. Based on VisaNet data, we see an encouraging trajectory back to pre-pandemic travel flows. However, how consumers travel has fundamentally changed. For example, 78% of consumers in Asia Pacific say that they are cautious about health and hygiene when selecting destinations for leisure travel. By offering cardholders a trusted, affordable and digital-first product to address their health and safety concerns, this partnership aims to promote the personal and financial safety and security tourists can expect when visiting the Kingdom. Cellcard’s Tourist+ is an important innovation, and we are proud to partner with Cellcard and eHealth MyCLNQ for this initiative.” – Ms. Ivana Tranchini, Visa Country Manager for Cambodia.
Cellcard’s Tourist+ is sold exclusively at Cellcard Airport booths in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the coastal city of Sihanoukville, and the temple city of Siem Reap.
For more information on these offers, please visit www.cellcard.com.kh
Launched in 1997, Cellcard is Cambodia’s longest-serving and only 100% Cambodian-owned operator, reputed for its long history of first-to-market innovations, outstanding customer service and the fastest, most reliable mobile network. Considered as one of the biggest telco companies in Cambodia, Cellcard services over four million customers with nationwide coverage and an expansive dealer and distribution network.
With a vision towards providing connectivity for all and enhancing the way customers live, work and play, Cellcard’s portfolio continues to expand to accommodate and build the esports and gaming community, provide digital entertainment services to address the need for real-time and on-demand content, and offer innovative and insightful enterprise solutions to support businesses.
Cellcard stands as the most awarded operator in Cambodia with more than forty global and regional accolades.
ABOUT E-HEALTH MYCLNQ
e-Health MyCLNQ Global CO., LTD., (e-Health MyCLNQ), is a joint venture HealthTech company between Cambodia Pethyoeung and Singapore MyCLNQ Health for the purpose of becoming a leading telehealth platform to enable healthcare services to be more accessible and affordable at a customer’s fingertips. The company provides holistic one-stop AI digital healthcare solution with value-based healthcare methodology.
For more information on these offers, please visit: www.e-healthmyclnq.com
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.


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Despite a rocky first half, the company began regular shipments from the company’s Mexican stockpile where a local partner mines and crushes the ore, and Fertoz takes ownership of sales at the US border.
The new US-Canada-Mexico trade agreement that began on July 1 is expected to generate steady sales in the rest of 2020 – compensating in part for falling conventional fertiliser prices and slow deliveries caused by border closures and COVID-19 outbreaks in North America which negatively impacted sales in the first six months of 2020.
Retail sales growth
Subsequent to the half-year, the company has responded to numerous website hits with the development of products suitable for online retail sales (4-pound, 10-pound, 25-pound and 50-pound bags) and engaged with a partner that can package, label and manage fulfilment for on-line orders.
COVID-19 has led to increased organic food sales in the company’s geographical markets and the board expects this to translate into additional sales in the coming months.
Increase in enquiries
The company notes that some new competitors are attempting to enter the market based on the increased demand for organic foods, but the entry barriers to organic fertiliser markets are high, with farmers requiring multiple laboratory and multi-year field trials prior to swapping from their existing suppliers.
Fertoz has the requisite results of multi-year trials, showing increased yields across a range of crops, soil types, weather patterns and geographies.
An increasing trend in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements for major companies has also resulted in an increase in enquiries and discussions with Fertoz management, as large, publicly traded companies seek to lower their impact on the environment and secure socially and corporately acceptable partnerships.
September quarter expectations
In the approaching fall planting and fertilising season, the company has already reported that border delays in the US North West are no longer impacting business.
Orders are also picking up from a large processor of organic fertilisers which encountered construction and commissioning problems at their USA plant and subsequently delayed orders.
Fertoz states that COVID-19 has driven increasing demand for organic produce and this is trickling down to farm input suppliers like the company, evidenced by early sales picking up in the September quarter.
Notably, while COVID and border issues also impacted sales in Australia and the various countries and Islands that purchase the Australian fused magnesium fertilisers, like North America, quarter three sales are beginning to rise again as people and businesses learn to live with rolling lockdowns.


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The product is the third from the in-house think tank.
Oakley has rolled out the Oakley Latch, featuring a special clasp that keeps sunglasses securely fashioned to short collar or pocket. “These shades are the third collaboration that has resulted from the Oakley In Residence brand hub experience, part of Oakley’s global campaign, One Obsession,” reports Transworld Business. “The campaign focuses on celebrating the creativity and ingenuity found in the action sports lifestyle.”
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One might argue that the 21st century is the age of disruption. So many industries such as the world of journalism and retail have been transformed by innovations that allow consumers to access the commodities that these industries produce in ways that are more efficient and personalized at a faster pace. Though it is not a subject that is broached as often as it could be the world of hair, makeup and skincare is no stranger to innovation. The introduction of beauty blogs and online hair tutorials, for instance, made it much easier for female consumers to achieve the style and look they wanted often without having to seek out the services of a makeup artist or beautician. While new innovations in the world of beauty do not necessarily mean that makeup artists, beauty editors at traditional magazines and beauticians are obsolete it does mean that the beauty world is modernizing itself to adjust to the tastes of a new kind of consumer.
One of the relatively new beauty products that symbolizes this modernization are the organic smooth spheres that are sold on Ulta by skincare company Evolution of Smooth. Even though EOS lip balm has been in business for less than a decade it has been able to rise to the top of the pack in part because of the innovations that it introduced to the world of lip balm. According to a profile that was written on the company for Fast Company magazine it completely overhauled the design of a beauty staple (i.e. lip balm) that had gone unchanged for decades. Instead of spelling the doom for the young beauty company the gamble that it took on an unconventional look for its product actually ended up paying off. Today the company is worth $250 million according to Fast Company magazine. Visit the company’s website: evolutionofsmooth.com.


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Earlier this year, Futuremark launched a version
of its 3DMark
benchmark that would run on PCs, notebooks, and mobile devices alike. Some mobile users could run the tests using 3Dmark for Android
, and now there’s an iOS
app, as well. 3Dmark for iOS lets users test and directly compare performance on iPads, iPhones, and even iPod touches.
Further, Futuremark released a new test called 3Dmark Ice Storm Unlimited that’s included in the iOS version (and is currently available for the Android version) that allows for chip-to-chip comparisons across different mobile platforms.
There’s still no Windows RT version of 3DMark; Futuremark only says that it’s coming “soon”. It took 5 months for the company to roll out the iOS version after launching the Android version, so the timeline for the Windows RT version is anyone’s guess.
In the meantime, iOS users can get down to business with the new app.


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Solana Labs Latest Innovation: Gameshift
Solana Labs has revealed its latest innovation, Gameshift, aimed at revolutionizing the process of Web3 game production. The introduction of Gameshift promises to simplify and accelerate game development on the Solana blockchain, opening up exciting possibilities for developers and gamers alike.
Solana Labs Latest Innovation Gameshift
Solana Labs, the pioneering force behind the high-performance and environmentally sustainable Solana blockchain, has announced the launch of GameShift. This cutting-edge unified web3 game development API is specifically designed to address significant challenges faced by game publishers during game development or porting processes into web3. With GameShift, Solana Labs aims to streamline and simplify the integration of games into the web3 ecosystem, providing a seamless experience for developers and publishers alike.
“Developers for web3 games need innovative technology to simplify and accelerate the game-building process, which GameShift will accomplish,” said Tal Tchwella, head of product at Solana Labs. “GameShift is building the ownership layer for games, and will provide a one-stop shop for developers on Solana helping them build faster and more confidently.”
With Solana Labs’ GameShift, developers will soon be able to access a full stack of trusted third-party web3 components on Solana through a single API.
GameShift will provide everything developers need to unlock a complete, trusted, high quality web3 in-game experience, covering custody solutions, marketplaces, inventory management, NFT minting, credit card on-ramps and off-ramps, and more.
The GameShift tech stack will simplify the asset ownership journey for both developers and gamers. Similar to developing experiences in web2, GameShift will package new and existing third-party tooling for game developers on Solana to easily integrate into web3 and combine their technological needs into a single interface.
GameShift was announced at PlayGG, a community-first celebration of games on Solana happening this week in San Diego, where more than 40 games on Solana are available to play.
“Developers see the potential of web3 games but they need help navigating the fragmented landscape of web3 tools and solutions,” Tchwella said. “GameShift will make it easy for developers to focus more on building their games instead of wrestling with the complexities of integrating web3 into their games.”
GameShift is expected to be available later this year. Interested developers can sign-up for early access here.
About Solana Labs
Solana Labs is a technology company that builds products, tools, and reference implementations to further expand the Solana ecosystem.
Solana is a blockchain built for mass adoption. It’s a high performance network that is utilized for a range of use cases, including finance, NFTs, payments, and gaming. Solana operates as a single global state machine, and is open, interoperable and decentralized.


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From the little automaker that could to a bonafide slugger, Hyundai has come a long way over the past few years.
Read This Article
What It Is/Who It's For
The freshly restyled 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe is meant for the enthusiast crowd and working professionals looking for some kick.
Buyers can now build their own 2015 Sonata online.
A non-autonomous vehicle drives on its own.


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September 30, 2016
Have you ever stood at the bin wondering whether something goes in the garbage or the recycling? You’re not alone! Our research shows that confusion is one of main reasons recyclables end up in the garbage and contaminants, like plastic bags, end up in the recycling.
The Australian Recycling Label has been designed by Planet Ark to clear up that confusion and we’re happy to say Australia Post has joined the growing list of businesses displaying the label.
Australia Post has established a new Mailing Satchel Recycling Program that provides a recycling option for many of their envelopes that can’t go in the home recycling bin. Express Post, Parcel Post, Flat Rate Satchels and Padded Bags can now be posted back to TerraCycle who will arrange for them to be recycled into new products, free of charge.
The satchels all display the Australian Recycling Label so that customers, just like you, will know exactly what to do with them. Find out more about the program and remember to post back your post packs.
The Australia Post Satchels are just the latest in a growing family of products that carry the Australian Recycling Label (ARL).
Officeworks has been rolling the ARL out on more and more of their products. In fact, there are now about 500 individual Officeworks products with the ARL. These products join Blackmores and T2 Tea, which are already widely available with the ARL across the country.
The Australian Recycling Label is different to other recycling symbols displayed on products as it is underpinned by an evidence based tool, the Packaging Recyclability Eligibility Portal (PREP), which examines the technical recyclability and access to collection services for all of the components of a pack.
Find out more about the ARL and keep an eye out as it starts to appear on more shelves.
Brad was Planet Ark's Head of Campaigns for 10 years. He trained and worked as a history and geography teacher before moving into the health education sector for 14 years. With a strong passion for human environments, Brad started with Planet Ark in 2007 as Recycling Programs Manager.


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Electronics Production | October 12, 2007
Jaltek & Connect Systems in agreement
UK based integrated design and manufacturing services (IDMS) provider, Jaltek Group, has announced a strategic co-operation agreement with electronics manufacturing services provider, Connect Systems International.
The agreement will enhance Jaltek’s ability to provide full turnkey solutions from product design, through development and prototyping, and on to low-cost, high-volume manufacturing. Connect Systems International is a member of the IPTE group, a major supplier of integrated production assembly and test lines providing optimal efficiency in electronics manufacture. IPTE earlier this year announced the acquisition of the European EMS provider Barco Manufacturing Services Division, which has now been absorbed into Connect Systems. Jaltek already has a number of existing customers eager to take advantage of this opportunity that will give access to 19 high-volume SMT (surface mount technology) production lines, and also volume cable and harness assembly manufacture and complete box build capabilities. The facilities are situated throughout Europe in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania and all have full quality approval to ISO9001:2000 and UL Steve Pittom, sales director for Jaltek Systems, commented on the agreement and what it means for customers: “Jaltek has always been well positioned to deliver high-quality prototype manufacturing services and with various acquisitions over the last 18 months we are now in a very strong position of being able to offer all our customers seamless PCB layout and design and RF design support. This latest announcement completes our vision to be a turnkey solutions provider and provides our customers access to volume manufacturing facilities that already have all the military approvals in place.” Herman Struiwigh, Marketing & Sales Director for Connect Systems, added: “Jaltek is a robust, profitable company with a proven track record for delivering added value to its customers. I am delighted that we have agreed to combine our core competences and believe that it will deliver real advantages to all parties”. Connect Systems was founded in 1987 and has grown steadily and consistently. Turnover for 2006 fiscal year was €170 million and the company employs around 1700 people across its numerous plants. Its customers come from various market sectors including telecommunications, medical equipment, automotive, professional vehicles and the semiconductors industry. The company’s commitment to this agreement is re-enforced by its decision to place its UK sales activities under the direct control of Jaltek as the companies move forward. Steve Pittom concluded: “This is an exciting time for Jaltek as we continue our plans to expand our business and provide real added value for our customers. This announcement is a significant step in our expansion process and I would expect to see the company’s turnover increase by at least 20 per cent, per year, over the next two years”.
Marvell layoffs in VT, NC and CA Days after the close of the acquisition of Avera Semiconductor on November 5, Marvell Semi filed a WARN notice with the State of Vermont, ahead of 78 permanent layoffs at its Essex Junction facility.
U.S. DoC extends Huawei license The United States Dept. of Commerce, through its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), has announced a 90-day extension of the temporary general license (TGL) to Huawei and certain non-affiliates.
Apple: Shovels up in Austin As part of its expansion plan in Texas, Apple has announced the beginning of construction at its new campus in North Austin.
PARPRO makes NA capex investments Southern California-based PARPRO has made capital equipment investments scheduled to be operational this quarter at the company’s Mexico and California facilities.
Sponsored content by EsemdaContract manufacturer Esemda opens new facility in Vilnius and expands EMS The new facility has been built with reserved space for future expansions. As Esemda constantly grows, it is of great importance to be able to rapidly increase production capacity in large volumes.
Indium Corporation is ready for 2020 Chris Nash from Indium Corporation reviews 2019 - in many ways, a strange year. However, even with the geopolitical issues that the year has offered, Indium has done a good job staying on top of things.
Schmoll Maschinen GmbH settles for a record year Schmoll's soaring results for 2019 is tied to the high level of globally deployed machines, where Asia takes the lead.
Arch Systems partners with Flex for manufacturing data transformation Arch Systems, a provider of a machine-data-sensing platform, has entered into an agreement with global manufacturer Flex to supply real-time access to and analysis of manufacturing data at its facilitie
ZF and Wolong Electric form JV for electric motors ZF Friedrichshafen and China’s Wolong Electric Group are stepping up their existing cooperation. The two companies have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture that will produce components and electric motors for automotive applications.
Sponsored content by Z ElektronikaZ Elektronika opens new factory in Pécs To keep up with rapid growth of the company, on the 13th September Z Elektronika celebrated the grand opening of its new electronic design and manufacturing facility close to the highway in Pécs, Hungary, which adds new features and production site to its nearby location.
Cicor on its venture into printed electronics In the first quarter of 2019, Swiss EMS provider, Cicor, opened a technology center for printed electronics at the Bronschhofen site in Switzerland - quite the investment and a completely new territory for the company. Evertiq had the opportunity to talk to Karl-Heinz Fritz, VP of Technology, about the strategy behind this.
TT Electronics steps up its US presence – acquires Excelitas unit TT Electronics has struck a deal to acquire a US based business that designs and manufactures power electronics for defence and aerospace markets, enhancing its ability to engineer complete power converters.
ABB partners with Exeger to speed up transition to clean energy ABB has entered into a new partnership with Sweden’s Exeger Operations AB. The partnership will enable Exeger to enhance the production quality its photovoltaic material at the company's Stockholm factory and also develop automation solutions for its new fully automated factory which will begin construction in the near future.
Rehm Thermal Systems intros 3-in-1 reflow solution Michael Hanke from Rehm Thermal Systems shows off the results of the company's development work.
Intel to reclaim No.1 semiconductor supplier ranking in 2019 IC Insights says that only three among the top-15 semiconductor suppliers are forecasted to show growth this year.
Veoneer joins Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium Veoneer has joined the Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium (AVCC) to speed autonomous driving vehicle development.
Ongoing trade issues have opened up Chinese market for Viscom According to Carsten Salewski, Chinas move towards more independence has resulted in more customers from the region; especially within the automotive sector.
Don't forget about human inclusion in industry 4.0 Michael Ford from Aegis Software is reminding the industry in the midst of connectivity that our most powerful asset is still the human employee.
East West Manufacturing acquires Adcotron EMS East West Manufacturing has acquired Adcotron EMS, a provider of specialized electronics manufacturing services, including advanced printed circuit board assemblies, box-build assemblies, testing, and new product introduction services.
Benchmark's Thailand facility earns MedAccred PCBA accreditation The EMS provider announces that its facility in Ayutthaya, Thailand has earned the MedAccred Printed Circuit Board Assembly accreditation.
HZO unveils larger HQ in North Carolina HZO, known for protective nano coatings designed to help electronics withstand corrosive liquid environments, held an open house at its new headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina this week.
Luminator Technology relocates some production to Texas Luminator Technology Group has relocated production of its Apollo Video Technology RoadRunner mobile video security solutions to Luminator’s headquarters in Plano, Texas.
Kurtz Ersa invests heavily in development to stay on top With more than 30 percent of its employees involved in research and development, the company is making sure that it is able to respond to its customers needs at all times.
BMW's new battery cell centre to handle everything from material to prototyping The BMW Group is looking fortify its position in the world of electric mobility and has pooled its many years of experience with battery cells and extensive knowledge in the field in a new Competence Centre.
Cicor selected as production partner for drug delivery system Cicor announces that it has won a major new customer in the medical technology sector, one of the company's strategic target markets.Load more news


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MTV recently cranked out a list of the top 12 girls to watch as they grow from fashion fledglings to full blown fashion icons. Their list last year included then hardly knowns such as Chloë Moretz , Kat Graham , and Emma Stone. Check out what they said about 2NE1 below the cut.
K-Pop has picked up an insane amount of steam domestically between Girls Generation and 2NE1 , with both of their major stateside performances eliciting an inexplicably bananas amount of crowd support. We’re keeping our eyes glued on 2NE1 as the new year progresses, namely because of their bestie collab status with our beloved Jeremy Scott and their enviable collection of high-drama streetwear like JoyRich.
Check out the full list here.


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By Lyndsey D’Arcangelo
Erik Hoertz has always dreamed of owning his own business. Last spring, when the opportunity to purchase Caruso’s Italian Imports and Deli came up, he jumped at the chance. Now his dream is a reality and he loves every minute of it.
“I spent 15 years working in corporate America,” Hoertz says. “I’m just excited to have this opportunity.”
Before reopening last summer, Hoertz didn’t make any major changes to the store as a whole. He understood that Caruso’s has a long and storied tradition in the Hertel neighborhood, and he wanted longtime customers to continue to shop for the same great products they had grown accustomed to buying.
“The store has always had fantastic fresh cold cuts, imported cheeses, daily fresh bread, produce and other Italian groceries at great prices,” he explains. “This is what the store was about, and I didn’t want to change that.”
However, in order to attract some new customers, Hoertz did add a few new products to shelves and deli, including Boar’s Head deli meats, a mouthwatering assortment of Italian cookies, Shelburne Farms cheese from Vermont, and Americo’s fresh mozzarella — which is made locally in Buffalo. He also added some new and exciting offerings such as cold deli sandwiches made to order, freshly made cheese plates, and hot cups of espresso. Aside from some “light” remodeling, which involved putting in a new floor, adding fresh paint and fixing areas of the ceiling, Hoertz is confident that the store looks and feels like the same old Caruso’s.
Customers seem to agree. “There’s a brighter and fresher new look to the store,” one person says. “I like the new items and of course, the free samples!”
It’s been a little over six months since Hoertz reopened Caruso’s doors, and he couldn’t be happier with how things have progressed. “The holiday season went really well, and we are in a great position to grow even more as a neighborhood deli and market staple.”
This summer, Hoertz plans to expand Caruso’s product lines even more. He says he’s interested in what customers want, and he’s willing to listen to all requests. A new website will be also launched soon. As for the store itself, you might notice some freshly planted vegetable, herb and flower boxes out front as you walk by on a bright sunny day.
Why not stop in and say hello? The store is located at 1212 Hertel Ave. in Buffalo. You can also visit Caruso’s on Facebook at www.facebook.com/carusosimports.


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According to CryptoWhale, Bitcoin transactions in El Salvador have actually plunged 89 %just recently. The staunch Bitcoin critic, who is likewise paradoxically an investor, is noting that it is a sign of El Salvadorans wishing to ditch Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was officially adopted as legal tender in El Salvador in September of this year. Ever since, there have actually been positive reports coming out of the nation for Bitcoin adoption. Reports have kept in mind that with over 3 million downloads of the Chivo wallet, there are more El Salvadorans with Bitcoin wallets than traditional checking account.
Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador has actually likewise been on the rise for both cross-border remittances and regional payments. According to Alexander von Frankenberg, the managing director and creator of High Tech Founder Fund, who checked out the country a while back, individuals are in fact using Bitcoin in the country as numerous locations accepted the cryptocurrency, powered by the really quick and cheap lightning network.
According to CryptoWhale, El Salvador might ultimately ditch Bitcoin
In the middle of the positives, there are however some concerns that have been raised. According to cryptocurrency financiers and analyst CryptoWhale, Bitcoin deals in El Salvador have actually stopped by 89% given that it was made legal tender. Utilizing this metric, he asserts that it is clear people do not wish to utilize Bitcoin as it was outdated due to the network’s difficulty of high deal charges and slow transaction times.
Bitcoin transactions in El Salvador have actually plunged over 89% because they made it legal tender. People don’t wish to use some out-of-date tech that has high costs, and sluggish deal times” CryptoWhale kept in mind in his tweet. He adds that it is time individuals of El Salvador ditch Bitcoin and select other cryptocurrencies with “genuine energy.”
CryptoWhale’s observation and criticisms of El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption are only the most recent in a barrage of criticisms the nation has actually dealt with and is apparently pay no mind to. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele set out on his Bitcoin mission with the objective of banking the unbanked in his nation and likewise bringing economic development with the adoption of Bitcoin.
El Salvador stays a crucial pioneer in Bitcoin’s increased global adoption
Bukele has taken the role of a Bitcoin evangelist for El Salvador, even carrying out the country’s Bitcoin purchasing from his mobile phone. El Salvador presently holds 1,141 Bitcoins worth roughly around $58 million and prepares to purchase more.
Bitcoin adoption as legal tender by El Salvador has actually likewise provided more conviction to other nations that are thinking about the relocation. Nations consisting of Panama, Cuba, and Ukraine have actually already taken severe strides to follow suit with El Salvador. Numerous other countries as well are seriously considering regulating cryptocurrency in a more friendly manner in order not to be excluded.
The post Bitcoin deal in EL Salvador sees an 89% decline since the nation adopted Bitcoin as legal tender appeared initially on CoinGape.


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SunEdison-Developers Diversified to Put Solar on Shopping Centers
Developers Diversified Realty recently announced an income-producing solar energy program in partnership with SunEdison, North America's largest solar energy services provider.
The program will enable Developers Diversified to incorporate solar photovoltaic (PV) systems through a multi-phase deployment at the company's shopping centers, starting with those in California, Colorado, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico.
As part of the long-term partnership, SunEdison has the option to develop solar energy systems at hundreds of Developers Diversified's shopping centers in the United States and Puerto Rico.
"This program is part of our continued commitment toward sustainability and energy efficiency at our assets," said Daniel B. Hurwitz, president and chief operating officer at Developers Diversified. "With a portfolio our size, the impact that energy savings can have on the environment and for our tenants is significant."
Once a system is operational, Developers Diversified will be able to purchase energy for common area uses. In addition, shopping center tenants can benefit and realize energy savings by opting to purchase the power generated by the solar systems at rates less than retail energy rates. Developers Diversified will receive significant rental stream from the program by converting unused rooftop space into a revenue-generating asset.
"We are excited to announce this energy program, which will enable us to offer predictably priced electricity to our tenants. We are committed to solar wherever it makes economic sense for our tenants," said John S. Kokinchak, Developers Diversified's executive vice president of property management.
The realty company owns and manages approximately 720 retail operating and development properties in 45 states, plus Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, and Canada, totaling approximately 159 million square feet.